I would like to share my thoughts with you.

Take a moment, close your beautiful or handsome eyes, inhale and exhale. Now open your eyes and be grateful for what you see, feel, and touch. Be grateful you can inhale and exhale. Know in your heart you are blessed for every new day God gives to you to have the opportunity to do better. When you are grateful, you have no choice but to be at peace with yourself. You want to share and show other people how to have the same peace. All it takes is to begin each day with gratitude. When you start to be grateful everyday, you will experience a wonderful feeling. Hope you will begin being grateful starting now! Trust me you will not regret it.

Reflecting on 2014 and your accomplishments is a great way to begin the New Year which is very near. Be grateful for all you did this year and accept the results of your hard work. People you have touched with your wisdom, laughter, love, and charm appreciates all you did for them. The choices you made for yourself in 2014 is going to make 2015 a better year for you. Continue to begin each day of the year with good thoughts, loving everything about yourself, making someone smile, and bringing your positive energy every where you go. This is the gift of life God gives to you everyday. Embrace the New Year knowing God is always with you and has always been with you since the day you were a thought to your parents.

I wish everyone and your family a very peaceful holiday. May you and your family receive the gifts of joy, laughter, love, health, and peace. Create new holiday memories with people you love and appreciate every second of the day with them.

Before the week begins, ready yourself for dealing with difficult people. Here’s how:

1. Keep perspective… People are struggling just like you. Don’t lose your connection with humanity’s struggles. We make all these assumptions about people – “well, they’re just so stupid or there’s something wrong with them” – and we never know their real story.… The person frustrating you might be dealing with difficulties and chaos you are unaware of.

2. Ask, “Have I been truly clear with people about what I think, want, and need?” Most folks who you’re frustrated with…they often don’t know you. And whose fault is that? Is their fault? Are they just supposed to know everything going on in your life? We have to be accountable and ask ourselves, “Have I been truly and consistently clear about what I want and need from this person?”

3. Consider people’s confidence and competence before you judge. Too often we get frustrated with people, thinking they are stupid or lazy, when the reality is they simply do not have the competence or confidence needed to do what we ask of them. They don’t have the training or information or experience, so we have to provide that. We can wear humanity’s hat again and say, “This person may not know how to do this. I might need to coach them through this and help them.”

4. Make dealing with others well and with patience part of your character development. Part of one of the supreme virtues of having character is having patience with people. As soon as you start desiring to want to help people, to help them through their pains and struggles, to help them understand something and to inspire them to do better things… once that becomes the lens you’re looking through in the world, now you’re not frustrated with everyone. You’ve become more conscious.

5. Release control. It’s not your job to control every situation. This idea that we can control everything – that’s where we get frustrated. We’re frustrated because we’re lacking control. A new level of consciousness says, “this is a pretty big universe, there’s probably a lot of random stuff that’s going to happen that’s crazy that we cannot anticipate, so our job is to be as present and patient and loving as we can into every situation we enter, even when the stuff hits the fan, even when the kids are running around breaking up the house, even when the teenager comes in and mouths off, even when the employee’s a jerk, even when chaos strikes us.” The only thing you need to control is yourself. Your frustration and impatience is of your own creation. You have to own your reactions and choices in life.

To live life to the fullest you must let go of the pain, hurt, fear, and anger. Let it all go and live for today. When you think about yesterday or tomorrow you are not living for today. Always remember you are in control of what you think, say, and do. It is your choice if you want o live your life to the fullest or continue to waste the beautiful gift of living by being fearful, angry, and in pain. Think, say, and do live your life to the fullest and be grateful.

We are going to make mistakes in life and we will forgive ourselves for the mistakes. We must stand up and continue to move forward in life. When mistakes are made it builds our character. We do not have to hide and live in shame.